Use SharePoint as your content source in Showpad (legacy)

Note: As of July 1, 2024, Microsoft no longer supports new connections using the approach described in this article. Existing connections will continue to function normally until sometime in 2026. To create a new SharePoint connection, follow the instructions in this article.

Use SharePoint Online as your single source of truth for managing your valuable content. Our SharePoint Online middleware connector automatically syncs documents, URLs, document properties, and permissions to Showpad and optimizes them for web and mobile usage.

Distribute your SharePoint content in a branded environment your sellers can access on Showpad's Web App and every mobile device with our apps and email integrations, online and offline.

Note: Changes to assets by the System User in SharePoint will not be reflected in Showpad, only changes made by actual users.

See how it looks

Key features

• Understand how and when your SharePoint content is used with the Showpad integration
• Use SharePoint Online as your single source of truth
• SharePoint URLs automatically convert into Showpad URL assets
• Map certain asset properties to Showpad based on the column type in SharePoint
• Use a Showpad Tenant URL to set up a secure OAuth 2 link between Showpad and SharePoint
• If the connection between SharePoint and Showpad is interrupted, your processed documents are still available in Showpad
• Continue to upload assets directly to theShowpad Files library as needed
• The Showpad Connector only needs to be installed by the admin and added to each relevant SharePoint site. For Showpad users, this feature is automatically available.

You need this to succeed

The quick way

1. In the Showpad Settings, enable the SharePoint integration
2. Copy the Service ID, Client ID, and Token to configure your site connections
3. Download and install the Showpad SharePoint Connector from the Office Store for the desired sites and subsites
4. Fill in the Showpad Tenant URL (https://organizationname.showpad.biz)
5. Paste the generated Service ID, Client ID, Token, and an optional webhook URL
6. Optionally, add a webhook URL where all syncing activity will be logged
7. Select the document libraries you want to enable for this site and subsite(s)
8. Configure columns to map properties to Showpad
9. Setup and manage your content and Experiences in Showpad
10. Distribute your files stored in SharePoint Online securely via Showpad, ensuring sales always have access to the latest, on-brand content

Note: When using versioning on SharePoint Online, only major versions (1.0, 2.0,...) of your documents will automatically be updated and processed by Showpad

Do this step by step

1. In the Showpad Admin Settings, from the Integrations section, select SharePoint. Enable the SharePoint integration by clicking Let's Get Started, then give the integration a Name.
2. Copy the Service ID, Client ID, and Token so we can use them later to set up the link in the middleware connector to configure your site connections.
3. In the SharePoint admin center, click on More features. In the Apps section, click Open, then select SharePoint Store.
4. Enter Showpad in the search bar and select the Showpad Connector.
5. Click Switch to the classic SharePoint Store, select Add It, and confirm that you wish to add the app by clicking Continue. Follow the installation instructions. Navigate to the SharePoint site you wish to connect to, and then click the Settings icon. Click Add an App and select the Showpad Connector.
6. Select Trust It for the installation. Showpad will not write or delete anything from the SharePoint instance.
7. Configure the connector at the site contents level. We support multiple sites and subsites on one SharePoint subdomain. Add the app via Site contents and select Trust It.
8. Configure the Showpad Connector App for your Site. Fill in the Showpad Tenant URL (https://organizationname.showpad.biz). Paste the generated Service ID, Client ID, and Token. In the Admin Email Addresses field, provide email addresses that should receive a notification when an error occurs during syncing. We use this type of OAuth 2.0 to make sure the connection still works when you change your SharePoint Online administrator password. Optionally, you can enter a webhook URL to determine where syncing activities are posted.
9. Select the document libraries you want to enable for this site and subsite(s) by sliding the toggle next to each library.
10. Now you need to create the columns in SharePoint to configure property mapping to Showpad. From the content library in SharePoint, you will see a list of your files. Click Add column to begin configuring the columns. You can see these columns listed in the content library moving forward, and you can edit them here. A table detailing Showpad fields, column types, and what they mean is available at the bottom of this article.

    Note: If column values are missing for an Office file that has been updated in SharePoint, it likely means the new file version is missing metadata. To prevent this, we recommend downloading the asset directly from the SharePoint library before making any changes to the asset. This ensures that the metadata in the updated asset is current to what is in the library, and there will be no mismatches or conflicts when the old version is replaced.

11. The available properties to map to Showpad depend on the column type in SharePoint. The list of Showpad properties and their corresponding SharePoint column type are:
    • File name: A single line of text. If a column with Name was already created during installation, this mapping will occur automatically.
    • Publish: Yes/No or Choice (with options of "Publish" and "Not published").

      Note: We require setting the default column value to "Not Published" first. When you're done uploading files, you can then bulk publish the files by changing the value to "Publish."

      We also highly recommend bulk editing the files to set them all to Publish using the Quick Edit option in the Document library. Go to the Showpad Publish column, set the column fields to Publish, and drag the corner of the cell's content to the other cells. Click Done to start publishing.

      Tip: To trigger the update after uploading assets to SharePoint, set the Publish fields to Yes and select Save.

    • Division and tags: Single line of text, Choice, or Managed Metadata. For Divisions, you can only map to Showpad when the Division(s) already exist(s). If you attempt to create a Division through the integration, an error will be shown. You can send the asset to multiple Divisions in bulk and this action will create a copy of the SPO asset in each selected Division.
    • Description: Single line of text or Multiple lines of text
    • Expiration date and release date: Date and Time
    • Asset permissions: Yes/No
    • Author: Person or Group

      Notes:
      - The email address of the Author selected in SharePoint must match the email address of an existing Showpad user.
      - If the Author field is not mapped, the author value will default to the user's name who set up your SharePoint integration.

      
12. When mapping tags to Showpad, select Choice and add multiple options as SharePoint column types. This will make each value a separate tag.
    • To distinguish the same values in different columns regarding tags, select the option to include the column name and the tag (tags, incl. column name). This will prevent tags with differing meanings from being added to the incorrect files. When the option is selected, the value will be shown as <Column Name> - <Column Value>.
    • To separate tags in single-line text fields, do so using either a colon : or a semi-colon ; to distinguish them into two values.
13. In addition to property details, you can map certain file permissions to Showpad as well. When creating a Yes/No column in SharePoint, you will see several permission options in the Showpad connector when you click the drop-down.
14. For content to sync to Showpad, you must select Publish as a mapping property. If this property is not included in your configuration, an error will be shown in your connector, indicating that it is needed. You will also be unable to click Apply when configuration details are missing.
15. Every update to a file and every version update will also be reflected in Showpad in the activity log. If syncing fails, an error message indicates where the error occurs. Document properties, like asset permissions, are also synced. When a file is deleted from SharePoint, it will also disappear from Showpad’s Files library. A SharePoint icon on assets in Showpad's Files library indicates synced SharePoint documents.
16. Set up and manage your content and Experiences in Showpad. Securely distribute your files stored in SharePoint Online via Showpad, ensuring sales always have access to the latest, on-brand content.

Here is a list of all available fields and types of columns available between Showpad and SharePoint to reference as needed: